The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (… OR… how I trash a print review.)
I
have been known to occasionally savage films that I didn’t necessarily
enjoy. I’ve used strong words like “insipid”, “Wretched”, and
“miserable” while describing the Transformers movies, the Avatar film,
and various other productions that didn’t necessarily deliver on what I
was either expecting or wanting. I was, however, always “fair” regarding
the merits of the film… from whether it had good special effects to the
music soundtrack, I do try to find some light of positive energy to
mention for those who actually read my blog.
With
that said, we have a weekly newspaper here in this county and I often
check the print for movie times, reviews, and other such stuff. It’s
considered an “alternative” newspaper, which pretty much means it’s the
most “liberal” minded paper. This includes their film reviews, which
have featured both negative or positive reviews regarding the political
content of a given movie. I don’t often agree with the reviewer, but
never have I been more blown away by just how incredibly WRONG the
review was with regards to “The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey”, which
garnered a whopping 2 ½ stars from this incredibly moronic writer whose
expectations, knowledge, and taste is woefully poor at best.
Let
us start with the assumption that “The Hobbit” is supposed to act as
some sort of a prequel to Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
While filmed by the same director, written by the same author, same
setting, and featuring many of the same characters… “The Hobbit” is a
stand-alone story with an entirely different theme, many different
elements, and entirely different mood. Elements featured in the later
story are much less prevalent, and Bilbo Baggins is an entirely
different main character than Frodo. The writer comments that the ONLY
scene he felt was justifiably dragged out was the one introducing us to
the older Bilbo from the original film and some dialogue between he and
Frodo. Yes, the only scene that actually does NOT have a place in the
book itself is the only scene the writer thought was justifiable.
The
Hobbit was always intended as a CHILDRENS book! It came out long before
“Lord of the Rings”, it enjoys just as much popularity and acclaim, and
the writer is acting as if the Hobbit is a prequel “follow-up” to the
second story as if this were Star Wars. The mood, the tone, and
everything is supposed to be vastly different than that of the laborious
and emotionally grinding pathos found in “The Lord of the Rings”. This
isn’t some romanticized “return” to Middle-Earth, this is the very
cornerstone foundation upon which the other works have been built.
When
the writer laments that this “return” to Middle Earth focuses too much
on the dwarves he displays an unbelievable display of ignorance
regarding the fact that the story is about 13 Dwarves and a Hobbit!!!
The complaints are no more keenly proof of ignorance than in his
expression that the audience is forced to sit through two (“Whole!”)
songs by the Dwarves… both of which are incredibly important to the
mood, story, and characters of the Dwarves themselves. No, this scene
which actually IS important to the story is pulled out for far too long.
The songs? The first is a flashback to the much beloved Rankin-Bass
cartoon and is actually featured in the book itself as a playful number
describing how the Dwarves take to a fun party atmosphere. The second is
a lament to all that the dwarves have lost, all they’re missing, and
what this “Unexpected Journey” is really all about. It’s also one of the
most important turning points for Bilbo, who begins to see the
importance of this journey and what it could mean to these men who are
fast becoming his friend. The fact that this song touches Bilbo is lost
to subtlety for the writer of the review, the fact that there’s
something of an adventurer within the lead character is lost with
regards to his youthful exploits and the playful jibes with Gandalf. For
the writer of the review, there’s “No explanation” as to why Bilbo
decides to join this quest. This is how to build a story, my dear
critic… not with one-liners, gags, and prolonged exposition.
This
is a sweeping fantasy film with fun adventure, chilling danger,
monsters, a looming threat, and heroes who decide to take a stand when
others might bend their knee or fall. An earlier article in the same
paper discussed why we, as an audience, might actually need the kind of
story that this movie is supposed to elevate… how a small person could
make a difference in the world. The writer of that piece mentioned that
it’s something we can’t do here in the real world, with billionaires and
politicians in positions of power and how a small person will never
have the sweeping effect the hobbits have in these films…. I recommend
that the writer go back and watch those films, because those small
people didn’t set out to change the world. None of them accomplished a
feat that not a single one of us couldn’t do ourselves… whether we
simply inspired through an example of courage, such as Merry… or
inspired through a display of honor unexpected, like Pippen, or if we
just cook a meager meal and help carry bags like Samwise, it is the
small people that will always make a difference. It’s the small people
who change the world in small ways, the ways which truly count, the ways
which show the people in power who it is they are working to protect
and serve.
The films
length, which may seem daunting, is appropriate for the material
covered. The writer fails to understand this, and so he tries to make it
seem as though the material isn’t justified. Jackson includes some
elements from other materials that Tolkien has written, and embellishes
other elements to flesh out the story. What may have been spoken through
exposition in the books is, here, shown in its entirety… we see the
Dwarves driven from their kingdom, we see the discovery of the
Arkenstone, we see the brief battle over the Mines of Moria, and we see
Radagast’s discovery regarding the mysterious “Necromancer”. The book
often features the disappearance of Gandalf here and there, but we see
here precisely what is keeping him at various points. And through it all
we see the growth of our two primary characters… Thorin Oakenshield and
Bilbo Baggins, each burdened with a certain sense of responsibility to
those they have sworn to lead and aid, respectively.
That’s
not to say some scenes couldn’t have been trimmed, because there are
moments that maybe drag a little. The ones offered by the writer of the
review were far from the worst culprits of Jacksons’ directorial and
editing style, and I continue to look forward to the additional films
from the franchise.
So,
the writer of the review I offer you two hands with a single finger
salute from each… you, sir, are an incredibly ignorant piece of manure.
From acting, to effects, to cinematography, to the “new technology” you
actually did praise, this film has exceeded in every conceivable manner.
5 out of 5.
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